Base Chain, Coinbase’s layer-2 blockchain network launched in 2023, is doing well. Its key metrics are jumping, and market share growth continues.
Nansen data shows that Base has solidified its position as the biggest player in the layer-2 industry. Its weekly transactions jumped by 27% to 65.9 million, much higher than Ethereum’s (ETH) 9.4 million.
Base’s active addresses jumped by 42% in the last seven days to 9.7 million, higher than Ethereum’s 2.14 million. It has also overtaken other popular layer-2 networks like Arbitrum, Polygon, and Optimism.
More data by DeFi Llama shows that protocols in the Base Chain are nearing a $400 billion milestone.
They have handled over $363 billion since its inception, with $25 billion in the last 30 days. If the trend continues, Base will likely cross the $400 billion level in June or July.
The most active DEX network on the Base Chain is Aerodrome, which has processed over $183 billion in transactions since inception. Uniswap (UNI) is the second one after it handled over $130 billion. The other top players in the network are PancakeSwap, Woofi, Javsphere, and Sushi.
Base Chain has also become the sixth biggest chain in decentralized finance or DeFi. its total value locked has jumped to $4.7 billion, making it a bigger chain than most popular players like Sui, Avalanche, Cardano, and Cronos.
Base Chain has attracted users because of its significantly lower transaction fees and faster speeds. It has also become a major player in the meme coin industry, with tokens on its ecosystem having a market cap of over $1.7 billion.
The most notable ones are Brett (BRETT), Toshi, Degen, and Ponke.
Base Chain resists pressure to airdrop
Coinbase has resisted measures to have a Base airdrop, which would give investors access to the $BASE token. Polymarket odds of such an airdrop are at just 2%, signaling that traders don’t expect it to happen in the second quarter.
A Base airdrop would be notable and likely valued at billions of dollars. Arbitrum, which is smaller than Base, has a fully diluted valuation of $3.9 billion, while Optimism has $3.07 billion. Polygon (POL) has an FDV of $2.46 billion, meaning that Base would likely spot a higher valuation.